The Elusive Owl

Of the many bird species that are widely distributed in North America, the northern saw-whet owl is certainly the most elusive. This small,...

The Sarah Palin Syndrome

American history is replete with individuals who came from modest backgrounds and, through talent and hard work, achieved international fame...

The Uinta Mountains

Looking at a map of North America, one notices that the major mountain ranges trend north to south; this reflects the compressive, subductio...

Hualapai Crossroads

Just southeast of Kingman, Arizona, the scenic Hualapai Mountains form a high wall above the east edge of the Colorado River Valley. Like m...

La Nina & the Australian Floods

The massive flooding across eastern Australia, which began in November, has been associated with the La Nina phenomenon, which tends to peak...

From Sand to Snow

Departing Tampa under sunny but chilly skies, our flight paralleled the west coast of Florida, crossing the numerous beaches, islets, sand s...

Oscar Scherer State Park

Established in 1956 and expanded to 1381 acres in the 1980s, Oscar Scherer State Park, south of Sarasota, Florida, protects scrubby flatwood...

Cape Cod, Florida

For residents of South Florida, the months of winter and early spring offer relief from the heat, humidity and tropical storms that characte...

Reddish Egrets

Mention egrets and most Americans will think of the white wading birds that are so common across our Southeastern States. Experienced birde...

Shifting Sand

Barrier islands, perhaps the most transient landforms on Earth, are created, molded and destroyed by waves and ocean currents. Attracted to...

A Day on the Bay

Awakening to the yodel of a common loon, I looked out to find Sarasota Bay shrouded in fog. The loon drifted on its surface, just off shore...

Fast Track to Spring

Ah, the joys of modern travel. One can depart the cold, gray, Midwestern winter and, within two hours, arrive in the mild, fragrant clime o...

Human Society & Mental Illness

Throughout most of human history, mental illness remained a mysterious affliction, thought to represent the presence of evil spirits; for th...

Great Basin National Park

Just west of the Utah line, U.S. 50 crosses the Snake Range of east-central Nevada, among the highest mountain ranges in the Great Basin; in...

Tree Weasels

American pine martens are mid-sized members of the mustelid (weasel) family that inhabit coniferous forests of North America; their range ex...

Heart of the Cold

The massive dome of cold air that brought snow and ice to much of the country is centered over Missouri this morning, giving us a morning lo...

Relative Hardship

We humans are prone to self pity. This week, there is plenty of grumbling across the U.S. as snow and ice grip large segments of the countr...

Sociable Siskins

Yesterday afternoon, with bright sunshine streaming through the frigid air, a flock of songbirds alighted at our backyard feeder. Smaller a...

The Ice Belt

The development of an ice storm requires two primary ingredients: a shallow layer of cold air at the surface and a center of low pressure th...

The Nature of Emotion

Despite the numerous problems facing this nation....the wars, health care, the deficit, a sluggish economy, political stalemate, etc., the m...

Snowshoe Hares

Common residents of boreal and mountain forests, snowshoe hares are found across the northern tier of North America, from Canada and Alaska ...

The Permian Reef

During the Permian Period, about 260 million years ago, a shallow, tropical sea covered what is now southern New Mexico, West Texas and nort...

Prairie Falcons

More slender and lighter colored than their famous cousin, the peregrine, prairie falcons inhabit the semi-arid grasslands of the High Plain...

Hooked on Relief

All regions of our magnificent planet harbor enough natural diversity to keep an avid naturalist engaged for a lifetime. Having had the opp...

Wintering Cranes

Sandhill cranes breed across the Arctic tundra of North America and in scattered regions from the Upper Midwest to the Intermountain West; a...

The Human Year

For most human cultures and with the general consensus of others, today marks the beginning of a new year. Though long established by relig...